"If UPN really does move Enterprise to Friday as rumored, there really could be trouble ahead for the vulnerable Star Trek series," he noted.

Fans of the original series may remember that Star Trek was cancelled after being moved to the "death slot" on Friday evenings, an often difficult night for shows to find a young adult audience.

However, The X-Files found its audience on Friday nights due to the lack of competing genre series, and without direct competition from Smallville, Enterprise might thrive in the timeslot, traditionally not a strong ratings night for UPN.

Meanwhile, Dark Horizons is reporting a rumour from the Paramount lot that there will be 24 episodes of Enterprise instead of 26 this season.

Reporter Garth Franklin cites an alleged leaked Paramount memo stating that the current Enterprise season will be reduced to 24 shows - the first time in nearly 20 years that a Star Trek series has filmed fewer than 26 episodes per season except during a writers' strike.

Dark Horizons emphasizes that this is only a rumour which the reporter was unable to corroborate with the studio.

"Lot talk behind the memo is that next year will be the last season of Enterprise," Franklin added. "A fourth and final season of 24 shows, which with the first two seasons total episode count...would fulfill the magic syndication requirement of 100 total episodes."

The Dark Horizons story is here. Berman's Mediaweek column is here. Please bear in mind that none of this information is official; it has not been confirmed by Paramount or UPN and should be treated as a rumour.